Reviews by galway_rat

HL: "The Funky Cypress Hill Shit", "The Phuncky Feel One", "Light Another"
rounding up to a 3 for the attitude & Latin elements; it has some good songs but I found the samples (see: "Hand on the Pump") overwhelmed and distracted from the vocals.
Actually it may be genius, as trying to listen to the lyrics was exactly like trying to follow a conversation stoned

May 14, 2023

HL: “For a Spanish Guitar”, “Where My Love Lies Asleep”, “Because of You”, title track

Last couple albums were great but not exactly in my usual genre of music (metal, noise rock).
70’s folk rock? No need to concentrate too much here, I’ll take it all baby

Lovely to walk down the city streets to, an antidote to the traffic.

HLs: "Teen Age Riot", "Candle", "The Sprawl", the trilogy

Here's the 5th and last Sonic Youth album on this list, and while they haven't ever been one of my favourite acts, I have at least an appreciation of the "sonics", aka the sounds they could produce with mere guitars.
Between this & Sister, they definitely tapped into a sound that I quite enjoy. The songs do sprawl, but the atonal, seemingly unstructured breakdowns carried a weight & energy I thought was absent in some of their other albums-
"Rain King" sounds like they're trying to summon a monsoon.
"Providence" is a moment of unexpected beauty, I don't really understand the context of the voicemail but it's ok

May 11, 2023

Heard the title track enough times that I was pretty sure I’d enjoy the rest of it. And I did. Even the goofy sound collage at the end (which I listened to twice just to appreciate the high energy performances behind the sounds)

May 8, 2023

Album 400 (skipping Yeezus, I’ll hear it when I’m good & ready),
Checkpoint reached. Buds are on the branches. Rain’s falling instead of snow. Thankful that the albums I like from this list far outweigh the ones I don’t.
Reminder to self: don’t forget to keep an eye on new releases & bands, as fun as it is to explore the past!

HLs: “Black Skinhead”, “New Slaves”, “Hold My Liquor”, “Blood On the Leaves”, “Bound 2”

Ah, I was afraid I’d like this album (based on knowing “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves”).

Something this list has revealed to me is my surprising tolerance for industrial & noise music, in certain doses.

I had no idea Daft Punk was so involved with Yeezus

1st listen (I think), though I’ve heard several tracks from this many a time.
Most Irish-ish sounding album from U2 I’ve heard, especially in “Sunday Bloody Sunday” & “Drowning Man”.
While Joshua Tree is probably #1 for me, Bono’s vocals in this album might be unparalleled (among U2 albums I mean, don’t get excited)
Also loved the “How long to sing this song?” callback to “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in the final track.

HL: “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “New Year’s Day”, “Like a Song…”, “The Refugee”, “40”

HL: "Big Me", "I'll Stick Around", "Good Grief", "This is a Call"

Idk why I expected more growing pains from the Foo Fighters' debut (maybe because the Queens of the Stone Age self-titled debut didn't do it for me). While I feel that the 2nd half doesn't quite keep up the momentum that the first few tracks set up, there's enough to enjoy from Dave Grohl's solo-noodling throughout the album.

May 4, 2023

HL: "Secret 77", "Sacred Love", title track

Moderately enjoyed it- actually listened to the whole thing twice today (short album), but got stuck appreciating it as a genre-bender without really getting moved or riled up.
Having vaguely heard of Bad Brains as a hardcore punk band, it did exceed expectations.

May 2, 2023

Didn't know Garbage outside of a few songs, left feeling satisfied

Love Manson's vocals in this album

And while the production sounds incredibly mid-90s, it's also idiosyncratic and not easily comparable to other acts of this time. I've heard "Stupid Girl" before but only now realized they sampled the drums in The Clash's "Train in Vain"

HL: "Not My Idea", "Stupid Girl", "Milk", "Queer"

Hearing “Dark Globe” reminds me how much Syd Barrett influenced Roger Waters’s style
First impression is kinda mixed, I love The Piper but the slapdash whimsy here is not quite as enjoyable.

HL: "Dark Globe", "Octopus", "Long Gone"

HL: title track, "Let the Sad Times Roll On"

HL: "Soubour", "Irganda", "Nick", "Petit Metier", "Desert Melodie"

Dope
At first I was worried it would be standard modern blues rock a la Black Keys, but it combines it with the jangly, soulful guitar playing you hear in Ali Farka Touré in a really appealing way- add some danceable rhythms from both African & North American influences, and you have this.

April 28, 2023

HL: "Tyler", "King", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "25%", "Food For Thought"

Enjoyable - listened to it piecemeal over the day, so it had longer to "stew" mentally.
It also was interrupted by more calls/messages than usual, so I re-listened to portions after midnight, or when I usually listen to these albums.
The issues raised in the lyrics didn't really register with me until the re-listen, since the first time I was too busy chilling out to the summery beats & icy synths.
The album cover, aka a literal UB40, should have given it away sooner though

HL: "River Man", "Way to Blue", "Man in a Shed"

"Safe in your place, deep in the earth
That's when they'll know what you're really worth" ("Fruit Tree") JESUS- not what I expected from the debut album
So Bryter Layter was the outlier, not Pink Moon- having heard the 3 albums in reverse order, I figured this would be more commercial & upbeat as well- nope. So very very melancholy.

Might be my least favourite of the 3 but it's such a narrow margin- gah it gets a 4 like the rest of em

April 26 2023

HL: "Hollow", "Walk", "Regular People (Conceit)", "This Love"

Hardest rate in a while- on one hand, it's an ugly sounding record (lots of bands/songs don't have to be pretty) with vocals I don't really care for, & the racism controversy centered on the vocalist doesn't help.
On the other, the ugliness belies some socially conscious lyrics (including a song that's sort of anti-racist?) and head-bopping grooves. The ballads are pretty strong, meaning that Anselmo has a chance to show off more than one dimension.
One of the better albums out of an era & genre of music that I don't appreciate all that much, aka late thrash/the tailspin into nu metal.

HL: "Wild Horses", "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "Moonlight Mile", "Brown Sugar"

April 24, 2023

Spent the whole day* depressed & listening to this almost felt masochistic. Hearing “Threads” after walking home after midnight was eerie.
Usually I can hear entire songs without paying attention to the lyrics but these felt almost targeted towards my current mental state.
They had to be aware of the dour atmosphere, because the gentle “Deep Water” hit like a truck
Ultimately I’d say that the coincidence deepened my appreciation for this album, where it might have been a bummer another month.

*give or take an hour

HL: “The Rip”, “Magic Doors”, “Threads”, “Silence”

Why does George Jones look like Jim Carrey playing Kaufman in "Man on the Moon"

I'd say the majority of the 28 minute runtime isn't for me. It's top-heavy, with a strong intro but not too much that grabbed my attention after that. For now I'm fine with knowing George Jones from the hits, though I don't mind this slightly deeper dive into his music.

P.S. My go-to tearjerker Roy Orbison doesn't even have one album on this list, by the looks of things.

HL: title track, "Darlin", "Our Private Life"

April 21 2023

HL: "Far, Far Away", "Say You Miss Me", "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)", "The Lonely 1"

Starting to think I kinda like these guys- though I am surprised that this is the 3rd Wilco album I've heard (and 2nd discovered from this list)
Didn't *really* need to be a double album, but there's no song in particular I'd want to cut to make it a quicker listen

April 22, 2023

*listened to full version on YT rather than shortened version available for streaming*

HL: "Hound Dog", "Great Balls of Fire", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Money"